Land Mines in the Sand
by ShadowInTheHall
Summary: Deidara has a daughter, and she's found her way to Konoha. Throw a dancer, swordfighter, Anko's cousin, and the sand nin into the mix, what do you get? Madness. And a lot of yeahs. GaaraxOc, ShikaxOc
1. Hospital Trouble

"Daizen! Daizen! Ma Ma, have you seen Daizen?!" A woman with soft wavy black hair ran through the house. It was mid-night, and another raid had started.

"No, but he will be fine! Come, Omoide! Quickly!" the old woman whispered. "They will not harm a child!" She grabbed the dark haired woman's arm, Omoide's arm, and ushered her into a removed wall panel. Daizen, the eleven month child, was on his hands and knees on the ceiling. He made no noise as men with torches and weapons broke the door down, saw the corner of a skirt sticking out of the wall. They broke the panel open and removed the women from the passage, cruelly slaughtering them one by one. The last to fall was Omoide, Daizen's mother. Landing on her back, as she bled out, she saw her little baby and smiled, the life trickling from her eyes as the blood trickled from her head. Leaf shinobi arrived in the out town near the Grass village.

"Hey, over here," someone called, "there's a living one!" A smoking shinobi dashed to the hut.

"What is it, Asuma?" a silver haired nin asked.

"It's a…baby. Kakashi, there's a baby on this wall!" Asuma picked his way through the dead bodies.

"Dai…zen…" a woman's voice husked. "His name's Daizen…" Asuma, startled, inspected the bodies, but they were all dead women, dried blood and rigor mortis settling over their bodies. He took the child off the wall.

"So your name is Daizen, eh?" the silver-haired green-eyed child reached out for Asuma's cigarette, throwing it to the floor. "Thanks, mom." he muttered, thinking how this baby was beyond a genius; taking a cigarette and putting it out around a young child and using chakra to stick to the wall. The wall!!

In the center of the village, the Leaf nin met with the survivors. Asuma located several of Daizen's living family members, and one who would take him in. He, Kakashi, and the other Leaf shinobi headed back to Konoha to report on the damage from the latest raid.

Daizen sat up in bed, thirteen years old. At six years old, his adoptive mother offered him to her own mother to take to Konoha. Two years later, she died of a heart attack. Having no one else who would accept him into their family, he lived by himself on a type of insurance. The fact that he came from a village with which Konoha was at war with recently not estranging him enough, Daizen was the inheritor of a kekkei genkai of the eyes. His left eye was a bright violet purple with a metallic gold pupil. This bloodline trait was referred to as the Shinri Me. The Shinri Me (shin-ree may) was able to see through genjutsu, like the Sharingan, but the user of the Shinri Me could also see through lies and process movements much faster. Daizen's problem was that since he was five, he had been unable to turn it off on the left eye. To cover it up, he had tried to tie a scarf over it, but had depth perception problems, causing him to run into things, and throwing his aim off. At seven years old, his grandmother had made him a mask with black blocker over the eye. It only covered the left side of his face, going around his hairline and curved toward the side of his face at the end of his nose and trailed down to his chin.

He picked up said mask and put it to his face, attaching it to his skin with chakra. It was peacock green with a lime green border around the edge of the mask and the eye. Daizen stood and looked around for his pants. He had to get up early, though he had hardly slept, to meet his kunoichi teammate and sensei. Their team was getting a new member, although it was only four months until the Chunin exams. He found his dark pine pants that came to just above the standard ninja sandals he wore. Not wanting to change his shirt, Daizen threw his dark grey jacket on over the black tank top he was wearing and grabbed a hair tie to pull his mid-back length silver hair into a low ponytail. The toaster popped up. He grabbed the piece of toast andstuck the corner in his mouth, opened the front door, and greeted his teammate.

"Yo." he said. A brown haired, dark navy blue eyed kunoichi stood, with her hand poised to knock. "You did say six, right?" Daizen chewed on his toast.

"But, but- how do you do that?!" He shrugged, and tried to rub the sleep out of his emerald green right eye.

"Daizen, Epi, let's go." A woman with long dark purple hair and a tan trench coat called. She motioned for the two to follow her.

* * *

A girl with goldenrod hair blinked her cerulean eyes open slowly. She was handcuffed to a stretcher bed. The girl studied her palms with a confused expression. They were smooth.

"These are the prisoners from the Akatsuki raid two days ago. Yes sir. Everyone." a voice from down the hallway echoed. The girl grunted in pain and tried to clutch her heart. Over the pillow, she could see the hat of a kage. The Hokage.

"Hey, old man!" she yelled. "What did they do to my hands, yeah?!"

"Kido, is that a child?"

"Yes sir. She's one of them." The Hokage and Jonin walked to the bed.

"Undo this! She's just a child!"

"What did you do to my hands, un!!" she shouted. Kido unlocked her right hand. She clutched her heart and growled.

"Kido, what does she mean by this?"

"I…I don't know, sir." The girl thrust her hand into the Hokage's face

"_This_ is what I mean! Do _**you**_ see a mouth? No? Well, _**that's**_ what I'm talking about, yeah! And it seems some genius has sewn up my heart, too!" Kido stuck a needle into her neck and she crashed back onto the stretcher.

"Find out what she means. I want her transferred to the hospital now. If I find you have done anything like this to a child again, you will be sorry. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir."

Four hours later, she woke up in a hospital bed.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I've had my heart and hands sewn up, yeah. Undo it, old man, un." The Hokage frowned.

"I don't think I can do that. Can you answer a few questions for me, at least?"

"Can you undo my heart, at least?"

"Well-"

"Come on, yeah! This is death, un!"

"I'll see what I can do. Answer some questions, and I'll talk to the chief of medical staff."

"Fine." she grumbled.

"What is your name?"

"Zakuro."

"Who are your parents?"

"My mother is Raiku Hane, Great Granddaughter of the first Beast Maiden. My father is the S-class missing-nin Akatsuki member who's gonna bomb your ass, yeah."

"And why is that?" he raised an eyebrow.

"You stole me, un. But…" Zakuro remembered her "uncle" Sasori had a sudden mission and had to leave her with her "uncle" Itachi who had let her be taken. "Hmph."

"But?" When Zakuro didn't reply, he continued. "Why were you with the Akatsuki?"

"I live with my papa, yeah. Duh?"

"Do you know where the base is?"

"Yeah, un. I _live_ there."

"Where is it?"

"I'm not telling you." The Hokage looked strangely at Zakuro, but sighed.

"Of course. So what did you mean by the absence of mouths on your palms?"

"Well, I have mouths on my palms, yeah, and one over my heart."

"What do they do?"

"Infuse clay with chakra." Zakuro replied, matter-of-factly.

"What do you do with the clay?"

"Make bombs, yeah! What else, un? Depending on how much chakra I use, they explode on impact, or when I say 'katsu' or 'doshin', yeah." Her hands flew to her mouth. "You're using ninjutsu! Damn it, un! That's a truth seal!" Zakuro pointed to black marks on the floor. Sarutobi smiled grimly.

"Smart, Zakuro. Your father is the Iwagakure nin Deidara, no?"

"Yeah." _Papa_…. she thought. _He probably imploded Ita-san's guts for this… _Zakuro giggled in her head. _I wonder if Uncle Sasori or Uncle Hidan will come…Will Leader leave me behind? What about Uncle Tobi? Or Papa…_ Zakuro had feared all her life that her father would leave her behind and never come back for her. It seemed to fit his personality. Leave her standing like a sculpture he forgot to explode. Maybe. She certainly hoped not. The Hokage questioned her for a while longer, before heading to find Yakushi-san. A young medical nin with grey hair and round glasses entered the room.

"My father is unavailable. I am Kabuto Yakushi, son of the Chief Medical Examiner."

"Kudos, un, but can you undo the stitching over my heart? And my left hand, maybe?"

"I received instructions to sever-"

"Great, yeah. Just do it, before I decide to blow this whole city up, yeah." Kabuto glared at her. He went into the hall to collect his medical cart.


	2. Sasuke is NOT Itachi

A young medical nin with grey hair and round glasses entered the room.

"My father is unavailable. I am Kabuto Yakushi, son of the Chief Medical Examiner."

"Kudos, un, but can you undo the stitching over my heart? And my left hand, maybe?"

"I received instructions to sever-"

"Great, yeah. Just do it, before I decide to blow this whole city up, yeah." Kabuto glared at her. He went into the hall to collect his medical cart. In another four hours, Zakuro again woke up with the Hokage sitting in her room.

"Zakuro, how do you feel?"

"Like hell. When can I leave?"

"As soon as you are healthy."

"Sorry, un. I've got plans, yeah. Those include leaving soon." Zakuro sat up in her bed to better face the old man in the chair.

"Well, Zakuro, I offer you to stay in Konoha. The Chunin exams are in five months; would you like to take them?" he asked.

"Not in particular. I may have to, though." She crossed her arms and looked out the window.

"Zakuro, where did you come from?"

"It depends on who you ask. Papa said I came from love. But Ita-san said I came from despair. Uncle Sasori told me it doesn't matter where I come from, yeah, but where I'm going, un. And Uncle Hidan says not to listen to Uncle Sasori cuz he's got no idea, yeah." The Hokage laughed openly at Zakuro's expression.

"No, no. That's not what I mean. What village were you born in?"

"I wasn't, yeah. I was born in a cave outside of Takigakure. We moved a lot, yeah." Zakuro said shortly. The Hokage, picking up that she didn't want to talk about it, nodded.

"I see. Zakuro, I can't keep you here, but if you aren't ready to leave, you're welcome to stay here." Zakuro uncrossed her arms and stared down at her palms, frowning.

"Meh. If I…hmph. I guess I have to stay, at least for a week, yeah. So….can I leave, un?" He chuckled again.

"Yes, I suppose so." He rose from his chair and opened the wardrobe at the opposite wall near the window. Sarutobi handed Zakuro her clothes and left. The clothes consisted of black capri pants, a black shirt that had the red kanji 'love' on the back, and a pair of black ninja sandals. Over this, Zakuro wore a black hooded cloak with a large red cloud on the back. She pulled half her hair into long yellow pigtails and left the rest down. Instead of leaving through the door, Zakuro jumped out the window and headed to a field on the outer area of Konoha.

An hour later, she woke up in the field and guessed it was about three p.m. Zakuro laid back down.

"Hey." an almost familiar voice said. She opened her eyes and came face to face with a pair of blood red eyes set in a pale face framed by navy black hair. "You're in my way." Not thinking, Zakuro sat up and flung her arms around his neck.

"Ita-san! You came, yeah!" she laughed.

"Hey, Sasuke! Who's that?" a pink haired girl farther off asked.

"Sas…uke…You're Ita-san's kyodai!" Zakuro pulled her arms back. "Sorry, Sasu-san!"

"What do you know about Itachi?" he growled. "Who are you, anyway?" Sasuke made hand signs for the Fireball Jutsu. Recognizing it, Zakuro jumped up ten feet in the air to hopefully avoid it. She reached into a cloak pocket and pulled out a small clay hummingbird, throwing it at Sasuke.

"Katsu!" she yelled. The bird blew up and flung Sasuke a few feet back. Zakuro sensed a familiar chakra and ran-- ten feet in the air. Sasuke, Sakura, and the newly-arrived Naruto stared in disbelief.

Zakuro dropped to the ground and landed hard just as the main gates came into view. A blue haired woman and a white haired man appeared from within the crowd.

"Aunt Konan! Uncle Hidan!" she ran at the pair, who embraced her. They stepped back.

"Are you okay?" Konan asked.

"Hey kid, how are you?" Hidan grinned.

"Fine, yeah, but…" She didn't know how to finish.

"What is it?" Hidan kneeled down.

"Erm…well, Ita-san…Uncle Sasori had to leave, yeah, and Ita-san was supposed to watch me un, but all he did was watch them take me, yeah. Um, did…"

"What?" Konan asked, concerned.

"Did papa forget me like that statue he forgot to explode? Last year in the forest?"

'No way, kid!" Hidan hugged her. "Deidara couldn't forget you, and if he did, I'd fvck1ng kill him!"

"Ne? Then why didn't he come, yeah?"

"Leader's got him pretty busy, honey." Konan spoke up. "I promise, once he's able to, he'll come and get you and never let you go."

"I bet puppet boy'll come, too." Hidan said, rubbing Zakuro's arms. "Sasori would've come today, but fvck1ng leader sent him back out with Deidara, the assho7e." referring to Pein.

"Careful, or he'll get you, un."

"You shouldn't use those words, Hidan!" Konan scolded.

"Alright, alright. I'll cut it out." he said, standing back up.

"Well, sweetie, could you stay in Konoha until your papa and Sasori can come?" Zakuro hung her head.

"I guess so, yeah." She looked up, hopeful. "Can Uncle Tobi stay with me, un?"

"Afraid not, Zaku-chan." Hidan ruffled her hair. "Look, kid, we've got to go soon, okay?" She huffed.

"Fine. But why can't I go now?"

"Because," Konan started, "if you left so soon, the Hokage would put a tail on you. We'd all be in trouble." _Especially your papa_, she thought. "Be a good girl."

"Keep out of too much trouble, kid."

"That shouldn't be too hard, yeah. Some d1ckfac3 sewed up my hands." she commented bitterly.

"They did what?" Konan asked. Zakuro held her hands out. "That's not good." She rifled through her bag and found a scalpel made of chakra conductive metal. Konan took Zakuro's left palm and kneeled, slowly dragging the knife across her palm. A thin black line appeared, gradually opening into a mouth.

"Yesss!" she shouted, holding out her other hand. Konan repeated the process with her other palm, and both mouths opened. "Whoo-hoo!! Alright, yeah!"

"There you are. Is your heart sewn?"

"Not anymore. Some crackpot asshead undid it." Hidan stifled a laugh.

"It's not funny!" Konan slapped his arm. "She picked it up from you!"

"That reminds me, un! I ran into Ita-san's brother, Sasuke. He definitely inherited his attitude."

"Itachi's a fvck1ng shtheaded assh0le." Hidan commented.

"I know. His kyodai's no better, yeah. He seems like the type who has there own fan club, un, and takes a secret revel in it."

"When did you meet him?" Konan asked, inclining her head.

"Just before I came here, yeah. He tried to kill me when I said something about Ita-san, un. With the fireball jutsu."

"You didn't call the little runt Itachi, did you?"

"I….might have. Hidaaaan-un, I don't want to stay here, yeah."

"Why not?" Konan asked her.

"What if I call them? Or blow someone up, yeah? Where will I go then, un?"

"If word reaches us that that's happened, then we'll come for you, okay sweetie?"

"No. It's not okay, yeah. Um, when you leave, walk to the first hill and use the transport jutsu, yeah. The ANBU are closer than you think. Oh, uh, Uncle Tobi's cookies are under his bed, yeah. Kakuzu's fourth heart is in the middle of the statue of Kai in my room, un, Kisame's crayons are on top of the refrigerator, yeah, and Uncle Sasori's favourite pen is…..plastered to the bottom of his desk, I think. Yeah."

"And my comb?" Hidan asked, eyebrow raised.

"I didn't touch your comb, un, you left it on Zetsu's desk. Your gel, however, is behind the altar, un." Hidan swore and took his pack off.

"This is your stuff. Pens, pencils, clay, paint, hairbrush, ribbons…and…four scrolls, I think. Here ya go, kid." Zakuro slung the dark blue pack over her shoulder under the cloak. The hood hid most of the infamous cloud design. "Take care, Zaku-chan. And don't worry. Deidara will _not _forget you. Neither will anyone else." Hidan gave her a hug. Konan kneeled down.

"I'm better now I've got my hands." Zakuro threw her arms around Konan's neck. "Thanks, yeah."

"Just like you were six. Well, be good, or, at least, don't destroy the village. Pass the Chunin exam like your papa taught you, and be careful of how much of a 'bang' you make with your art. Bye Zaku-chan."

"Later, un!" Zakuro grinned as Konan stood up. She and Hidan walked out of the village.

"Wow Hidan. I didn't know you could be so nice. I'm surprised."

"Yeah, well if it weren't Zaku, I wouldn't be." Konan laughed.

"I hadn't pegged you as the type who likes kids. Going soft, are we?" Hidan shoved her to the side.

"Shut the fvck up." he put his hands in his pockets. "I think that if she hadn't been _raised _in the Akatsuki, and we hadn't watched her grow up, things would be a bit different. For everyone." Hidan looked at the road ahead of them.

"Frankly, I'm surprised Leader allowed her to stay." They walked in silence for a few minutes. "Hidan, do you think we should have told her?" He looked away.

"Naw. It would've made it a hell of a lot harder for her, knowing Deidara's in a coma. She'd flip. Or explode. Or whatever the fvck she does. I wish he'd wake his ass up. Zakuro thinks he forgot her. Sht!"

"And, he'd probably implode Itachi's guts." Konan giggled in her head.

"I'd fvcking pay to see that sht." Hidan grinned.

"Yeah…" Konan and Hidan disappeared in a puff of smoke, just as the ANBU caught up to them.


	3. Epi

A woman with blue hair down to her waist grabbed a cloak from the hooks on the wall. The dark green wave of cloth covered her red belly dancer's outfit. She turned to her child of four.

"Are you sure you want to stay? I could find-"

"No. I'm stay." the child replied. "Byeee, mama." she grinned and waved her hand.

"Silly Epi. If you need anything, go upstairs." Her mother kneeled down and hugged her, then left their neat two-story house. Epi was learning to read quickly, thanks to the ghosts that hung around her house.

"Okay, Kintaro-san! Mama left!" the brown haired navy eyed child shouted. A man appeared in the stairwell. He was tall and pale, with straight black hair and tired blue eyes. Around mid-twenties, and already dead, he stood, transparent like a projection.

"Well, Epi, how are you today?" Kintaro walked to the couch and sat.

"I'm good. How's Kintaro-san?" she smiled, and sat next to the ghost.

"I'm good too. Do you want to start a new scroll, or look at an old one?"

"New scroll!" Epi shouted, enthusiastically. Kintaro laughed.

"Okay. How about…" he dug through his bag, "this one?" Kintaro held out a small blue scroll. "First, can you use chakra?" he asked.

"Chakla? What's that?"

"No, chak_ra_. Okay, Epi. Close your eyes. Now, imagine seeing your body with fire in your veins. It doesn't hurt." he reassured her when she opened one eye. "Now no peeking. Think how it would look if the fire went from your whole body, to your hand." Epi wrinkled her nose as she pictured it.

"Okay."

"Good. Now, this is your body, so _make_ the fire go to your hand." Epi opened her eyes and saw her hands were covered with blue fire.

"Kintaro! What is this?" she asked, startled.

"Your chakra." he smiled. "Now, go ahead and read this. Follow the instructions, okay? If you need help, just ask." Kintaro offered Epi the scroll, which she began to read. By noon, Epi had finished reading the scroll, and was practicing hand signs.

"Kintaro-san! I think I've got it!" the four year old said. She displayed the proper hand signs. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Beside of her appeared an exact clone.

"Epi! You got that on your first try!" Kintaro was shocked. He decided on teaching her the clan's dancing jutsu. Kintaro, by blood, was Epi's uncle. Seven years before, he hung himself in the attic. On that day, three years before on the day of Epi's birth, many other jealous ninja had called him a liar and a fake. After his best and only friend's death, Kintaro had become unstable, and their picking on him didn't make it any better. He hadn't really wanted to die, but tied the noose anyway. Three years later, Hyoshi Odori, his sister, gave birth to Epi at twenty one years of age. Now he stood watch over his niece when his sister could not, even resorting to scaring the babysitters away, much to Epi's amusement.

"Okay , I'll teach you the steps first, then maybe tomorrow we'll try with chakra. Okay?"

"Okay!" Epi said excitedly. Kintaro taught the unusually coordinated four year old girl the steps for a dancing jutsu to conjure fire. By the end of the day, she could conjure fire, water, and small gusts of wind as well as controlling them with chakra. The wind was the hardest for her to understand. Her mother Hyoshi opened the door. She had come home early to surprise Epi, but was surprised herself to find streams of water and flame rising from the floor, intertwining and swaying to silent music. Epi was at the center with…Kintaro? _'Kintaro's dead.' _she thought. The ghost and the toddler spun around, waltzing with the elements.

"……….Taro-chan?" she asked. The ghostly man froze when he saw his sister. He whispered something to Epi quickly, and disappeared. Epi saw her mother and stopped dancing. The fire and water hissed and turned to steam.

"Mama! You're back early!" Her mother, still in shock, nodded.

"Tell me…was that a ghost?"

"Kintaro-san taught me to read and use chaka." Epi said excitedly. "What's wrong, Mama?"

"Kintaro is dead…" she whispered, more to herself.

"Yeah, but…he's really nice!" she exclaimed. "Can he stay?" Her mother hesitated, but nodded.

When Epi was nine, her mother married a nobleman in a neighboring country. Kintaro, her best and only friend, could not leave the house, so Epi stayed behind with him. Hyoshi sent her money, scrolls, jewelry, and on occasion, clothing. Epi was a fine dancer, and kunoichi, passing the genin test at ten. She was paired with a boy named Daizen, and another boy named Risei. Risei had moved out of Konoha just before the Chunin exams, so Epi and Daizen had to wait until two months after the exams to get a new member. Their sensei, a kunoichi by the name of Unmeiko, said she was new to the village, and had arrived about the time Risei left. Unmeiko was rambunctious and enegetic, much like her cousin Anko. She had the same colour of dark purple, worn long in a high ponytail. Her short bangs stuch out from under her Konoha headband, but didn't cover her bright misty violet eyes.

* * *

**It's been a while, but thanks to Katt Shelle and SkyBlueDragon25 for reviewing. I should have more time to type now, so I hope to get the fourth chapter up by the end of the month.**

**-S**


	4. It's Only A Little One

Epi stood with her teammate Daizen, who was eating toast, in front of his house. Unmeiko-sensei ran by them, and motioned for them to follow her.

"Daizen, Epi, let's go!" she yelled. The three traveled to a field on the outskirts of Konoha. No one was there.

"I don't get it…Old man Hokage said she'd be here at six twenty." Unmeiko stated. A small scorpion fell from the sky. Daizen picked it up; it was about the size of his palm and very detailed.

"I'd throw that away, yeah! Hurry!" The three ninja looked up to see someone peering down at them from a giant owl. "It'll explode, un!" Daizen threw it just in time for it to explode in mid-air. "Yeah! That one was good, un!" The owl landed and disappeared in a puff of smoke. A girl with most of her goldenrod hair pulled up in pigtails, and bangs hanging over the right side of her face, stood inspecting her new teammates with unearthly bright cerulean eyes. She wore a black shirt, black pants, a black hooded cloak, and a pair of black ninja sandals. Finally deciding it was safe, she approached them.

"Are you our new team member?" Epi asked. The blonde girl held her hand out for Epi to shake. She wore half-finger gloves. Epi shook her hand.

"Hi. My name's Kaname."

"Um…hi…Epi Odori." Epi smiled.

"Daizen Nigotteru." Curiosity crept into his stoicism.

"I'm your new sensei, Unmeiko Mitarashi." The blonde studied them for a moment longer.

"Okay, un. I lied. My real name is actually Zakuro, yeah."

"What?" Epi asked. She looked to Daizen, who shrugged.

"Okay, Zakuro," Unmeiko started, "do you have a last name?"

"Uhm…"she thought harder than necessary, "Zakuro no Bakudan?" Zakuro of the Bomb. "That's the closest thing to a last name I've ever had." She shrugged.

"You like explosions, do you?" Unmeiko asked.

"It's art, un!" Zakuro punched her fist into the air. Epi laughed. Daizen wondered if Kaname was her middle name-why else wouldn't his Shinri-Me catch the lie? Had he not been focusing?

"So, are you three ready to start training?"

"Hai sensei!" Epi responded overenthusiastically.

"Whatever, un." Daizen just nodded his head once.

"First," Unmeiko turned to Zakuro, "you will not say 'whatever' to your sensei. Second, you will look at your sensei when they speak to you." Zakuro was playing with a piece of clay from a pouch strapped to her beld.

"Whatever, un." she replied, oblivious to what her sensei had just said.

"Aaargh! You! Were you even listening?!" Zakuro looked up and held her hand out. A miniature Unmeiko stood in her palm. "Wha- you…wait…you did that just now?"

"Yeah." Zakuro threw the two-inch figure into the air. "Katsu!" It exploded with a force unnatural for something so small. She laughed for a moment, then stood up straight, mischievous look in her eyes.

"How did you do that?" Epi asked.

"Ninjutsu, yeah." Daizen studied Zakuro with the utmost care. She didn't appear to be a threat, but neither did Epi. Epi had the best chakra control he had ever seen, aside from the ANBU. "Uhh….something wrong?" Daizen snapped out of his reverie.

"What? No. Shouldn't we be training?" "Aww, scrap training. I'm hungry." Unmeiko replied.

"Did you eat this morning?" he asked.

"No."

"Then why did you make training so early?!" Epi challenged.

"Hey! I could've scheduled early and been late like Kakashi!" Unmeiko shouted back.

"Uh, guys? We could just go get breakfast, yeah."

"If you got here after us-" Epi's comment was lost on Zakuro and Daizen. They watched their teammate and sensei for a while.

"This happen a lot, yeah?" Zakuro asked.

"More than would be considered healthy." Daizen replied.

"I see. So uh…what's the mask for, un?"

"Covering my face."

"Oh." Zakuro considered, momentarily, asking why he didn't want to talk about it, but decided against it. "So how long do these normally last?"

"Most of the time, about twenty minutes."

"Hm." Zakuro waited patiently for about three minutes. Finally, she was getting bored. She reached into her weapons pouch and pulled out a handful of marble sized balls of clay, which she threw into the air. "Doshin, un!" They exploded and filled the sky with fireworks. Epi and Unmeiko stopped arguing to watch. When the last one faded, they turned their attention to their teammates.

"Hey, do you two want to go get breakfast?" their purple haired sensei asked.

"Whatever, yeah."

"Sure."

"Okay." Epi replied.

"So much for training." Daizen muttered as they walked toward the village. Unmeiko lead them to a restaurant, where they saw another Genin team sitting at the counter. Zakuro assessed them in her mind. _There's a big kid, he looks impatient. The other boy appears to be bored, and the blonde…I dunno, but I don't think any of them would be tough to beat one on one._

"Asuma!" Unmeiko greeted her fellow sensei.

"Hey, Unmeiko. What's up?" Asuma had an unlit cigarette in his mouth.

"We're getting some breakfast before we start training. This here is my new student Zakuro." Unmeiko pulled Zakuro at a sideways angle so she stood in front of her.

"Um……Hi, un?" Zakuro said, uncertain of what she should say.

"She's not very well dressed." the blonde commented to the bored boy.

"What? What's wrong with my clothes, yeah?" Zakuro looked at herself.

"Don't worry." Epi said. "That's Ino. She's like that with everyone."

"Where I come from, she'd be working her own block, un." Epi laughed, and the bored boy turned away, muffling laughter.

"What did you just say?" Ino shouted.

"I said you look like a ho, yeah." Zakuro challenged, holding up her fist.

"Well, at least-" Ino hesitated, "at least I don't look like my father dressed me!" Zakuro looked shocked, then her eyes narrowed. Epi looked between the two. Asuma and Unmeiko looked up from their conversation.

"What does that mean?" Zakuro asked, voice low. Daizen raised an eyebrow.

"It- it m-means exactly what it sounds like!" Ino's voice returned. Zakuro reached into her pack. Her hand closed around a one-inch spider figure. Before she could remove it, Daizen grabbed her wrist.

"You can't do that in here." he said.

"Do what? It's only a little one." she replied coolly. He didn't let go. "Fine." she sighed and dropped the spider. It probably would have blown the whole block up, anyway. The whole point was ridiculous. Zakuro dressed herself, with some help from Uncle Sasori who resized her clothes, but that was still an attack on her father. And the clothes _he_ dressed in were basically regulation. Body mesh, black pants, and the Akatsuki cloak. Well, there's the ring, too.

"Shikamaru, are you laughing?!"

"No. snort Why would I be laughing?" he asked seriously. Ino huffed and went to sit beside Choji to find Daizen there. She sat beside him. Epi sat next to Shikamaru, and Zakuro sat beside Epi. Unmeiko settled herself on the empty stool between Asuma and Choji. The cook came from the back room.

"Okay, what can I get you this morning?" He started at Ino.

"A fruit plate and some toast."

"Mushroom and cheddar omelet."

"I'll have my usual." Choji said. Epi thought she heard Zakuro mutter "Usual everything?"

"Eggs, over medium, and bacon." Unmeiko informed him.

"I'll have two pancakes and sausage."

"Uhn…One pancake and an orange." Shikamaru ordered. Epi looked at the counter.

"A waffle and a bowl of strawberries."

"A bowl of dry fruit loops and a cup of coffee." The cook went to the back to start cooking everything up. The eight shinobi sat quietly for a few minutes. Then Ino started babbling to Daizen.

"….and what conditioner do you use? Your hair is so soft!" Daizen stood and walked to the other side of the lineup.

"Hey, Daizen."

"Hey, Shikamaru."

"Uh, ….Epi, is this how training normally goes?"

"No. Sometimes we actually train." Ino's voice carried over to them.

"Does she ever shut up, yeah?"

"No." Epi, Shikamaru, and Daizen answered in unison.

"Every time I see her, she keeps asking me about my hair, or my clothes, or something." Daizen said.

"You think you've got it bad, I'm on the same team as her. There's no escaping the gaping mouth that is Ino." Zakuro frowned.

"I'm boooorrrreeed, yeah." she complained

"Our food should be here soon." Epi said. "Oh, Shikamaru, this is Zakuro. Wait, you probably know that….Uh," she looked around. "She came from…. Come to think of it," Epi looked to Zakuro, "where _did_ you come from?"

"That's classified, un."

"So how old are you?"

"That's…" Zakuro thought for a moment. "A good question. I think I'm 10, yeah."

"How can a person not know how old they are?" Shikamaru asked.

"I'm not sure, un. Probably because the only reason I know I'm about ten is cuz I took the factors into consideration, yeah. How long we've been living with my uncles, how old my papa was when I was born….There ya go, yeah." She held out her gloved hand to reveal a chess king. "Be careful, cuz if you drop it from over seven feet, or throw it, it'll explode." Shikamaru took it.

"So…it's a bomb?"

"No! Of course not, yeah! It's art!"

"But you just said-"

"It explodes. That doesn't make it a bomb, un. Art is a bang! What else would it do, if not explode? Sit and collect dust? I don't think so, un."

"Hey, Zakuro, why do your gloves have belts around the wrist?" Daizen asked. She looked at them.

"I uh….that's…..classified. Classified info, yeah." Not a moment too soon, the food finally came.

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**The next installation. Hope it's not too bad. Thanks to Ms. Dragon, Katt Satou, and ToboeDeidaraLover for your reviews! R&R. Oh, and if you have some ideas, please feel free to input. Also, should Zakuro and Ino get into a fist fight?**


	5. Watch Out For Paper Bits

Epi set about arranging her strawberries on top of her waffle. Daizen picked his omelet into pieces and ate them. Zakuro picked her fruit loops up one at a time dunking them into her cup of coffee before eating them. Shikamaru meticulously buttered his pancake before covering it in syrup, having allowed just enough time to pass for the butter to soak in. Asuma and Unmeiko ate and talked about the upcoming Chunin exams. Choji stuffed his face while Ino lectured him on proper etiquette between bites. All-in-all, it was a fairly adequate breakfast. Until it came time to leave, that is. Ino opened her mouth again-- not that she had ever _closed_ it-- about fashion.

"Really. All I'm saying is that if you dressed in another colour besides black-"

"Not another word, yeah. I'm not taking any type of advice from _you_, un!"

"And just what's that-"

"Ino!" Asuma said. "That's enough. Come on, we've got training to do." A white haired Jounin came around the corner, three Genin in tow.

"Well, we'll just see about that. Hey," Naruto pointed, "there she is! We'll just ask her now!" He started running up the street. "Hey, Ino!"

"Idiot!" Sakura yelled, running after him. "You can't just go chasing after people like that!" Sasuke sighed.

"Ino!" Naruto yelled. He grabbed her shoulder, and turned around, annoyed, was the strange girl from two months earlier. "Ino, Sakura and I were wondering-"

"Did you just call me Ino?!" Zakuro yelled.

"Er…well, that's your name, right?" Naruto said. Ino turned around and it was Shikamaru's turn to sigh heavily.

"Like hell my name's Ino, yeah!"

"Aauugh! Naruto! You're a bigger idiot than I thought!" Ino yelled.

"….Ino?" he asked cautiously.

"How could you get _me _confused with _that_ ,(yeah)?!" they yelled in unison, pointing at each other.

"Well I, uhm…you kinda…look alike?" That did it. The two blonde-haired blue-eyed angry females attacked Naruto simultaneously. He never had a chance. Sakura, Daizen, Choji, and Epi did all they could to stop the fight, but Ino and Zakuro turned on each other. Naruto was left in the street with bruises and a nosebleed.

"OKAY YOU TWO!!" Unmeiko yelled. Ino was on the ground, hand twisted in Zakuro's shirt. Zakuro was pinning her to the ground, Ino's hair in her hand. "Zakuro, let Ino up. Ino, back to your sensei." Her voice demanded them to, on threat of decimation.

"……Fine." Zakuro grumbled. She stood and stalked down the street, sulking about how she could have won, if that stupid sensei hadn't stopped her. Ino stood and brushed herself off, combed through her hair with her fingers, and took inventory of her "grievous injuries"; two scratches, a sore scalp, and a bruise on her shoulder. Epi ran to catch up to Zakuro.

"Hey!" she called. "That was awesome!"

"Huh?"

"You pummeled Ino!"

"And?"

"Well…what? Were you looking to kill her?"

"No. I at least wanted to cut her head off, yeah." Epi gasped.

"That _would_ kill her! Cutting off her-"

"It doesn't kill Uncle Hidan." Zakuro said defensively.

"Who?"

"My Uncle Hidan. Uncle Kakuzu cuts him up into, like, thirty pieces when he won't quit complaining, yeah." Epi couldn't find anything to say. She thought back to when she had cut her finger off when she was ten, and Kintaro had sewn it back on, but….wasn't that just him? Daizen was beside her, snapping her out of her daydream.

"Okay, guys." Unmeiko said. "It's time to get down to some real training. Head to Training Field 12. First one there spars first. Uh, hey!" As soon as she mentioned which field they were meeting at, Zakuro took off on the same giant bird she was riding earlier. "Well…that's weird………" she said. Epi and Daizen recovered, and rushed off to the training grounds. When the three remaining got there, the giant clay owl was flying straight up to the sky. It leveled out, then went into a spiral nosedive. Zakuro had added handles to hang on to before her ride, and her feet were slipping from under her body. With as little spare room as possible, the bird swooped parallel to the ground. She saw her team, and made the owl turn and land. It stopped so abruptly that Zakuro was flung off of it and toward the on looking shinobi. She tumbled forward and landed in an upright sitting position.

"Say one word, Epi, and you go boom, un." Epi had opened her mouth to comment, but closed it, barely containing her laughter. Daizen shook his head.

"So," Unmeiko said, "you got here first. Who do you want to spar with?"

"What?" Zakuro asked.

"I said, who do you want to spar with?"

"Uhhh……" she looked around. "I dunno, yeah."

"Ooh! I'll do it!" Epi jumped up and down. (A/N: I haven't described what she's wearing yet…. A short, high collared v-neck dark blue-violet vest with gold trim, light purple netting sleeves that go over the hand, with a gold band around her wrists, over the sleeves. Long dark blue-violet skirt, split up the sides, with a triangular light purple sash tied off to the side. Epi's Konoha headband is tied at the top of her skirt like a belt. She's a kunoichi, right? Zakuro gets a new outfit, too. As soon as I find my sketchbook.) Unmeiko looked at Epi and sighed.

"Sure, kid. Okay, Zakuro, get up. You'll be fighting Epi first." Zakuro stood.

"Okay, un."

"And _don't_ cut my head off. I'm not your Uncle Hidan."

"That's for sure, yeah. Don't worry. He said I probably shouldn't try the stuff I do with him on other people."

"So, shall we get started?" Epi asked, sweetly.

"You asked for it." Zakuro said. She grinned. Epi was stepping toward her in an unusual manner, like a really slow dance. Her skirt was flowing and moving back and forth, like seaweed. She spun, and Zakuro backed up. As Epi began to dance faster, Zakuro felt chakra in the ground around her. Water began to flow towards the surface of the ground, in thin pillars. They began to combine and form a large bubble around Zakuro. She was interested in this move, as no one in the Akatsuki, save for Kisame and Zetsu, could control some form of element. When she realized what the water would do to her clay if it got too wet, Zakuro threw small low powered bombs at the barrier and ducked down. It exploded into raindrops, and Zakuro was quick to escape. Epi saw this and continued dancing, throwing kunai into the water, which now had a gel-like consistency. The water formed a strange wall pattern in front of Epi. Zakuro watched it, on alert. She heard her father calling her from the forest, and turned to greet him, but no one was there.

"Come on, Zakuro! We can go home now! Hey, how about we stop and get some ice cream?"

"Papa?"

"Over here!" A sand colored hand stuck out of a tree, waving.

"What about Kisame-san, yeah?"

"He can come, too!" Zakuro grinned. She started to move, but froze. From the pouch next to her clay pack, she pulled out a pair of dark green tinted goggles whose strap had been traded in for bright orange legs, like a pair of safety glasses. Zakuro put them on, and pushed a small red button on the side. Now the hand was gone, and she could see the water wall around her.

"Epi! Kisame-san doesn't like ice cream, yeah, and Papa talks funny!" Zakuro threw a handful of clay bits that unfurled into spiders. They attached themselves to the wall. "Doshin!" Epi's work was gone in a flash. Zakuro headed over to her, a kick aimed for her side. Epi countered with a punch.

"Weak with genjutsu, I suppose?" Epi asked.

"Yeah, well I think it's pretty low playing with someone's senses, don't you?" She blocked another punch. "By the way, yeah, Papa's skin is darker than mine." Epi ducked to avoid a punch, but caught Zakuro's kick right in her stomach. She made quick hand signs and stood up.

"Fire Rain Jutsu!" Bird-shaped flames formed in the sky. Zakuro pulled a small sparrow from her pouch and shook the curtain of goldenrod hair from her face.

"Spread!" The sparrow multiplied into hundreds of sparrows, flying about at their leisure. The bird-flames, satisfied with their numbers, began to rain down on Zakuro. "Converge!" she yelled. The clay birds flew head-on into the flock of fire-birds, exploding on impact. Zakuro got up and ran, dropping a few paper bits. Epi started after her. One lone bird escaped the explosive ones, and flew toward the earth to Epi's position. It hit the paper bits, which were three crumpled explosive tags. They exploded to Zakuro's delight and Epi's chagrin. As soon as Epi hit the ground, she rolled onto her stomach to get up. Zakuro grabbed her arms and sat on her back, kunai to Epi's neck, huffing.

"That was hard, un."

"Yeah, well, you were better than I expected, too. What are those glasses for?" Unmeiko walked over, Daizen close behind.

"That was pretty good, you two. A nice first demonstration, I might add." Zakuro stood up, and helped Epi up.

"Sorry for blowing you up, yeah." Epi brushed herself off.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to beat you next time." she replied.

"Now," Unmeiko said, "try it without using ninjutsu or genjutsu."

"What?!" Zakuro whined.

"Sensei, my leg hurts." Epi reported. On her left leg were the burns from Zakuro's explosive tags.

"I can't use art?!"

"Well, considering the power of that explosion, I'm surprised you're not burned badly."

"It looks like a _really_ bad sunburn." Daizen said. He squinted at her leg. "Epi, I think it's ……. _healing_." Daizen bent down and pulled her skirt open by the split up the side to get a better look. The skin was becoming less blistered and red by the minute.

"Wow." Unmeiko said. "So I guess you're good to go after all." She grinned.

"Nobody's listening! Why can't I use--" Zakuro paused. "Epi, un, do you worship Jashin?" Zakuro wasn't sure if it was Hidan or Hidan's religion, but when he unwittingly found one of her target practice mines, his leg looked like Epi's after half an hour. His injuries were far worse, though, having had direct contact with a chakra-charged clay disk.

"No, why?"

"Erm…No reason, yeah." She looked at her leg and saw it had healed but for a light sunburn. "How does it feel now, yeah?"

"Sore." Epi sighed. "Not being burned off by a dragon? Sensei, can I go home? I want to check on something." Unmeiko looked reluctant, but sighed.

"Okay, but all three of you are working double tomorrow.

"Hai, sensei." Epi took off. Daizen and Zakuro watched after her, then turned back to their sensei.

"Why does she get the day off, yeah? And why do _all_ of us have to work double, if _she's_ the only one taking off?!"

"Because while Epi is gone, we will be the only ones training. We will need to help her make up the training she missed today, tomorrow, which requires double effort on our parts."

"Very good, Daizen! You get an A!" Unmeiko said, with false over enthusiasm. "Now, get to work!" she barked.

"Psycho, yeah…" Zakuro muttered.

"Just for that, no bombs, blondie!"

"Come on, un! I was kidding, yeah!" Unmeiko quirked an eyebrow, and her left eye twitched.

"Let's go." Daizen said quietly, pulling on her sleeve.

"Yeah….that's what I was thinking'." The two Genin hopped off to begin their Taijutsu sparring.

* * *

...

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...

Epi, meanwhile, opened the wooden door slowly.

"Kintaro?" she asked, cautiously. A transparent man with straight black hair and tired blue eyes faded visible at the mouth of the stairway.

"Hey, Epi. Did you need something?"

* * *

**I ran out there. Sorry. _Thank_ you ToboeDeidaraLover for your review _and_ suggestion, and _thank_ you SkyBlueDragon25 for your review! You guys are awesome! I love you! (overdramatic?) Oh well. Anyway, there's my update, and I'll turn some more out when I get it out. Btw, is Hidan himself immortal, or does being a Jashinist make him immortal?**


	6. Genjutsu, Taijutsu, and Artjutsu

**To 69: I know Deidara's only 18, but to have a kid at eight...That's just gross. 10 was the youngest I could make Zakuro and have it not be too weird. She's at a high Genin level because she grew up with a house/cave/base full of S-class Criminals/Missing-Nin. Therefore, the youngest I can make Deidara is twenty-five, if you want to think a 14 year old and 15 year old would have a baby. I know it happens, but...yeah. Anywho, to the story!**

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Zakuro sat with Daizen in the training field waiting for Epi and Unmeiko-sensei to show up. Daizen pulled out his sword and began to swing it about. Zakuro played with clay, sculpting a dolphin leaping up out of a wave.

"Would you stop swinging that thing around, yeah?" Zakuro snapped. "You're gonna cut my hair off!"

"No, I will not." he said.

"No, I will not." she mocked. "What is this, anti-contraction day, un?" Daizen stuck his sword into the ground next to her thigh. Zakuro squeaked.

"Why don't you try sword fighting?" he asked.

"I'm okay with a sword, but I'm better with a bomb, yeah." she held up a small ball of clay.

"Show me, then." he stepped back. For a moment, Daizen reminded her all the world of Itachi, face half hidden, by shadow or mask, feet apart and arms crossed. Zakuro jumped up, grabbing the sword. Daizen raised his eyebrow as Zakuro swung the blade around and back at him. She threw it, landing it three inches in the ground next to Daizen's left foot. Zakuro grabbed the dolphin sculpture and started breaking it down, pulling the glove on her left hand up. He watched the sculpture being broken down and reformed into a sword.

"Come at me." she challenged him. "It won't explode, yeah." Daizen pulled his sword out of the ground and stood at the ready.

"Are you going to attack?" he asked calmly. More like Itachi. Zakuro charged at him. Daizen held his blade out. She dodged and swung her sword. He blocked. Zakuro ran around Daizen. She discovered the day before that he got dizzy easily. He jumped into the air. Zakuro jumped behind him, landing a kick to his upper back. They landed and Daizen turned to face Zakuro. He took a step toward her. Another. Another. He took a fourth step forward as she stepped. He walked to the side and so did she. Daizen stuck his sword out and Zakuro met it. He growled.

"You aren't bad, Zakuro." She paused.

"Uh, well, ...you don't remind me of Itachi, yeah."

"What?"

"Oh, I attacked you because you did that _thing_..."

"What thing?"

"With the crossed arms, smug look, yeah... Ita-san does it to piss me off, yeah."

"I see." They stopped moving. "Zakuro, can I ask what you were doing with your hand earlier?"

"I suppose so, un." She said nothing more.

"So...What _were_ you doing with your hand?"

"It's classified, yeah." Daizen looked confused.

"You just said-"

"You could ask what I was doing. I didn't promise you an answer for your question, yeah." Zakuro checked the belt on her left hand glove, making sure it was secured. "Besides, you wouldn't tell me why you want to hide that half of your face, un."

"I have eye problems." Daizen replied.

"Well, I have hand problems." she said, crossing her arms and still holding her sword. Daizen frowned. He wasn't normally nosy; in fact, he wasn't nosy at all, but he just _had_ to find out what she was hiding. Why? He didn't know. No one knew. The Shinri-Me couldn't see the chakra network like the Byakugan, but it _could_ see chakra accumulation. Zakuro's was pooling into her palms, and he wanted to see why. Why it was there, and why she wanted to hide it. Was it disfigured? Burned? Was there a hole in her hand? He shook his head.

"How about rock-paper-scissors?" Daizen suggested. Zakuro looked at him. "If I win, you show me your hand. If you win, I will show you my face."

"That's a bad deal, yeah. I couldn't take that if I wanted to, un. Actually, I could. But I won't." Zakuro began to dismantle her sword, not pulling up her glove.

"Hey! How are you two?" They turned to see Epi rushing to meet them.

"Would you tell your teammate that there's no way he's gonna see my palms, yeah?"

"Uh..." Epi stopped beside Daizen. "Zakuro says you're not gonna-"

"I heard." he replied. "So where is Unmeiko-sensei?" Epi scrunched up her face.

"I don't know, but her being late is really starting to bug me." Epi huffed and crossed her arms.

"So how's your leg, yeah?" Zakuro asked. Epi lifted her skirt up and stuck her leg out. It was smooth and tanned, without so much as a bug bite.

"Well," she started uneasily, "it healed up completely about twenty minutes after I got home. Then it was sore for about ten minutes or so..."

"What did you have to check on?" Daizen asked.

"Uh...It was nothing." Unmeiko showed up, twenty minutes late.

"OK, guys! To work!" she shouted. "Zakuro, Epi, you're up first!"

"WHAT?!" came the unified response.

"We went first yesterday!" Epi yelled.

"Yeah, and I can't use my right hand, un!" Zakuro protested.

"Sensei, shouldn't you see what Zakuro's strengths and weaknesses are?" Daizen interrupted. Unmeiko beamed as Zakuro glared at Daizen.

"You're absolutely right, Daizen. So, Zakuro," she said, turning sharply to face her student, "let's see what you can do." The grin on her face did not bode well for Zakuro. "Try genjutsu." Zakuro looked around nervously.

"Uh, I dunno about that, un..."

"What does that mean?" Unmeiko-sensei asked.

"Erm...well...Last time I tried Genjutsu, un, Uncle Kisame wouldn't leave the bathroom for a week, yeah..."

"Why the bathroom?"

"No windows." She laughed nervously.

"Well, give it a try." Zakuro performed hand signs. Her sensei watched Daizen advancing on the two girls, getting ready to strike them with kunai. The knives pierced the girls' throats so they couldn't scream. Blood gurgled up out of their mouths as they desperately gasped for breaths and tried to call for help. Unmeiko reached her hand out, but that was as far as it would go. She could pull no weapons nor form any hand signs. With a sickening slurp, Daizen pulled the kunai from Epi's throat and plunged it into her heart, the sound of metal meeting bone producing a harsh scraping noise. With the sword on his back, he proceeded to cut her up in thirty or more pieces before she hit the ground. Zakuro fell to her knees- Daizen looked at her, concerned.

"Sensei?" Unmeiko choked a little and cleared her throat.

"Uh... Was that overdone, yeah?" Zakuro asked timidly.

"Unmeiko-sensei, are you alright? You're pale..." Epi looked closer at her. "Zakuro, what did you do?"

"Well...that was the genjutsu, un. Ita-san said...not to use it on...teammates, yeah..."

"Sensei, we should take you to the medical center." Daizen said. Unmeiko finally realized it was all a genjutsu technique. She shook her head and closed her eyes.

"Great, Zakuro! That had to be the best genjutsu I've seen for a while! What others can you do?" Her usual spunk returned.

"Well...that's it, yeah." she said. "I use ninjutsu, mostly."  
"So how's your Taijutsu?"

"Uh...adequate?"

"How about we go borrow Lee?" Unmeiko suggested, already starting toward Gai's team and where they were training.

"Who's that, un?" Zakuro asked.

"Sensei," Epi said, "Lee's a Taijutsu _expert_. Shouldn't you pick someone else? ...Like..." she couldn't think of anyone. "Sasuke?"

"No, yeah! He tried to kill me, un!"

"What about Shikamaru?" Daizen suggested.

"That's insulting, Daizen." Epi said.

"I might have taken suggestions, guys, but we're already here." Unmeiko announced, moving to the side to show Team Gai. "Hey, Gai! I need Lee!" she shouted. The four walked to Gai's position in the field. Unmeiko pushed Zakuro in front of her. "This is my new student Zakuro. We need to see how well she can do Taijutsu, so we'd like to test her against Rock Lee."

"Gladly! Lee, my boy, you will take part in this young shinobi's training!" Gai shouted unnecessarily. The odd, yet similarly dressed, boy stepped up.

"I will gladly accept this challenge, Gai-sensei!"

"Have at her." Unmeiko grinned, stepping back. Zakuro looked for someplace to run, but found nowhere. She was suddenly bombarded by a barrage of kicks and punches. She blocked and parried them, but never landed a hit on Lee.

"You are very good at this!" he exclaimed, launching another kick for her head. Zakuro pulled back, trying not to strain a neck muscle. She got behind Lee and tripped him, landing a kick to his side. He jumped up and his attacks became more ferocious. Zakuro jumped as high as she could in the air and dropped a butterfly.

"Spread!" she yelled frantically. "Stop, yeah! If you touch one of those, it'll trigger a giant explosion!" Lee froze and Zakuro collapsed on the ground huffing. "Sensei? Can I be done now? I don't like Taijutsu!"

"Quit yer whinin' and get up an' fight!" Unmeiko yelled.

"Y'see those butterflies, un? If you touch one, it'll explode, and trigger the next and the next to explode. It's a chain reaction, yeah!" she shouted back.

"Clear the field." Daizen said. Zakuro slumped over, then stood slowly.

"Lee, lower your leg slowly, un. Okay. Now, get into the forest. Walk, yeah! You guys should get there, too, un." the rest of the teams got into the forest and watched from behind the trees. Zakuro stood fifteen meters from the butterfly mist, too close by her father's standards. He would tell her to stay at _least_ twenty-five meters away from a blast, but she liked to feel the hot wind and clay bits. "Watch this, yeah!" She flipped a rock off her thumb like a coin. It hit a clay butterfly in the middle of the cloud, so every one could see the tiny bombs go off one by one from the inside out.

"Awesome!" Epi yelled.

"That's...kinda cool." Tenten commented. Neji 'hm'd his agreement. Lee and Gai watched with awe and Unmeiko was impressed. Daizen was interested. Every clay piece had a small chakra glow. Zakuro's hands must transfer chakra to the clay by means of her palms. '_Drat!'_ he thought. '_More palm obsession!_' She stood in the field, hair blown back and grinning.

"My art is _way_ better, Uncle Sasori." she muttered to herself. The other ninja came out from the forest, joined by one new one.

"Epi, Daizen!" A brown haired nin with a hood called. "What was that?"

"Oh, hey, Kiba!" Epi greeted him. "That was Zakuro's ninjutsu. Why are you here?"

"Akamaru sensed a large amount of chakra nearby, so we came to investigate." he said. "Who's Zakuro?"

"Our new team member." Daizen replied. "The blonde over there." Zakuro was arguing with Unmeiko-sensei about the "stunt" she had just pulled.

"That's why I don't have to use Taijutsu a lot, yeah!"

"That's no excuse, brat! You'll fight when I say fight! Now get up and fight!" She stared blankly at Unmeiko.

"I don't think so, un." she started sculpting the newcomer and the little puppy following him, sitting down to further protest her unwillingness to fight.

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**Thank you sasoriforever, 69, and ToboeDeidaraLover for your reviews. Love you all, and I hope you enjoy!**


	7. Chakra Theories and Religious Queries

Kiba and Akamaru headed over to where Unmeiko was berating her student. Zakuro was finishing up Akamaru as he came within hearing range. Immediately after setting the dog figurine down, Zakuro produced more clay and began sculpting Rock Lee. By the time Unmeiko sensei had finished her rant, her student had recreated the entire scene in clay pieces.

"Is that clear?!"

"Yeah, un." Zakuro replied. Her sensei headed over to Lee and Gai.

"Are you Zakuro?" She looked up at the newcomer.

"What's it to ya?"

"Nothing. I'm Kiba, and this is Akamaru. He motioned to his little brown and white dog next to him. Kiba held his hand out for her to shake. Zakuro inspected it suspiciously, then decided it as safe. "Hey….is that me?" He pointed to a hooded boy with a tiny dog among the clay sculptures.

"Well, do you see anyone else fitting that description around here, yeah?"

"You've got Neji and Tenten and Epi…" While Kiba was busy being impressed with her scene, Zakuro headed to find her teammates. Epi was standing with a new black haired girl and the brown haired one from Lee's team.

"Zakuro! Over here!" she called. "This is Tenten," the girl with buns bowed her head a bit, "and this is Hinata." The new girl looked at her feet, then at Zakuro.

"N-nice to meet you, Zakuro." she stuttered.

"That was cool with the butterflies." Tenten said excitedly.

"Yeah." Epi said. "Wasn't that the same move you used yesterday?"

"Yeah. Only with butterflies. Um, are there any _other_ shinobi I need to meet, yeah? There can't be too many more, right?"

"The others on my team are Neji Hyuuga and Rock Lee." Tenten said.

"Yeah. I've already had the displeasure of meeting Lee, un." Zakuro grumbled.

"Come on, he's not that bad!" Epi said.

"Whatever, un." She looked at Hinata. "Kiba's on your team, yeah?" Hinata nodded.

"Uh, S-Shino's on my team, t-too." she said shyly.

"Are they with Daizen?" Zakuro asked. Epi nodded. "Oh, if you wanted to see the new sculptures, yeah, they're over by Kiba, un." Epi pulled the other two over to see the 'amazing handiwork'. A good distance off, Daizen and Shino stood talking, with Neji leaning on a nearby tree, interjecting now and then.

"So didja figure it out yet, yeah?" Zakuro asked. Daizen narrowed his eye.

"Your palms transfer chakra to your clay, after which you are able to control whatever it is you bring to life."

"Are you sure, yeah?"

"What do you mean, am I sure? You have an accumulation of chakra in your palms." he said sharply.

"Do I now…..Interesting, un." Neji leaned forward. Daizen 'grr'd his frustration.

"I don't see anything." Neji said.

"Ah. So much for that theory." Zakuro looked at Neji. You're Hyuuga, aren't you, yeah?"

"I am." he replied, irritated. She crossed her arms.

"So that makes you Shino, un." Zakuro extended her hand to the nin next to Daizen. He looked at it and slowly pulled his hand out of his pocket.

"Shino," Daizen started, "this is Zakuro. She is our new team mate."

"I see."

"Okay, well Epi said that was all the rest of the shinobi, yeah, so I'm gonna go now before Unmeiko-sensei or _you_ get anymore training ideas, un. If ya wanna catch the fireworks, move along!" Zakuro ran out in the clearing and pressed her palm to the ground. The giant clay owl appeared under her, and took off straight up into the sky. It flew high over the statuettes of the Konoha ninja.

"Hey, Epi, move it, yeah!" Epi looked up and pushed every one back away from them. "Doshin!" A flurry of multicoloured fireworks flew out over the red and black explosion. Unmeiko knew Zakuro had left the moment she saw sparkling green birds zooming around and fizzling out. Hinata was delighted at the fireworks display. Kiba and Tenten found themselves mildly shocked that someone would spend as much time as Zakuro had making the pieces, only to blow them up. Shino was impressed at the hyperactive and rather unimpressive newcomer's chakra control.

"Yeah! This is like vacation! No lessons or tests or stupid useless annoying Taijutsu exercises, yeah! No meddlesome uncles who only want results shown or chores done, and no more Leader-sama!" Zakuro cheered as she walked through the bountiful forest found around Konoha. When it came down to it, she kind of missed those things. She didn't know if Leader liked her much, but he didn't act like it. Itachi was mean all the time and would often flick her on the nose (hard) when she wasn't paying enough attention during training. "I don't miss that at all, un…"

"What are you going on about?" She looked around and saw …_Shikamaru?_ from the previous day. "Well?"

"One of my uncles used to flick me on the nose really hard when I didn't pay enough attention to what he was saying, yeah." She looked at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm hiding. It's a team exercise."

"Oh. Well, good luck with that, un." Zakuro skipped off into the forest, not to be seen for the next three days.

* * *

**_The previous day:_**

"Kintaro?" Epi asked, cautiously. A transparent man with straight black hair and tired blue eyes faded visible at the mouth of the stairway.

"Hey, Epi. Did you need something?"

"Yeah…..I was…Well, when I was out training today, …"

"Did you get a new team mate?"

"Yes. Zakuro, remember?"

"Oh, right. I guess I forgot." Kintaro laughed lightly. "You were asking?"

"Well, first, what is Jashin?" Her uncle-ghost frowned.

"Jashin is a who. He lived long ago- and I mean _long_ ago- never mind. You never were one for history lessons. He heads up his own religion, basically." Epi nodded in acknowledgement.

"I see. So what do Jashinists do, exactly?"

"They make ritual sacrifices- Why?"

"That was what I was getting to. During training, anyway,… Zakuro likes bombs. That's what she uses. They're really cool. She make's these pretty little sculptures out of clay and then they-"

"Epi, off topic?" he interrupted.

"Oh. Sorry. Anyway, she made these clay birds to explode. I had used the Fire Rain Jutsu, and she pulled this one clay bird out and made it multiply to match my birds. When I went to lunge, I stepped on some paper bombs. I could have sworn that my skin burned off. Then, when I looked at it, it was blistered and gross. After that, when I came home, my leg was badly sunburned. Now it's just fine."

"So where does Jashin come into this?" Kintaro asked.

"Zakuro asked me if I worshipped Jashin when she was inspecting my leg."

"I see."

"So what _does_ Jashin have to do with it?" She asked.

"Jashin's followers are immortal." Kintaro replied.

"So if I were to cut off my hand…"

"And you were a Jashinist? You could sew it back on and it'd be just fine." Epi made lunch, practiced jutsus, made dinner, and went to bed, Jashinism still on her mind.

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**Hey, I would have had this up on the 23rd, but I "needed to spend time with my family". Whatever. Anyway, thanks to Lela Rye and LeopardstarXOCryingtearsXO for reviewing. And thanks to every one else who reads this chapter for putting up with my late updates and reading anyway.**


	8. Ringtailed Accident

**It's a CHRISTMAS FREAKIN' MIRACLE!!! This is up before Christmas! ^^ After so long away from the computer, I'm finally able to post again! YAYYYY!!!!!1!eleven**

Edit: I'm a moron. To be honest, I only _uploaded_ this document before Christmas. I forgot to post it. A message from a friend alerted me to this fact.

Second Edit: I'm fantastic. I really am. I added that previous edit, like, what? A week or two ago? And still didn't do it.

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One month until the exams, when Unmeiko gave them a week's break, Daizen invited Zakuro to the South Market. There were merchants from Iwagakure that stopped in every four months or so, and they sold everything form fruit and produce to Iwa clay for pottery.

"This is fun!" she jumped up and down excitedly, and quit when her teammate glanced at her. "Sorry, yeah."

"You really find this to be exciting?" Daizen asked.

"Well yeah. Of all the places I've been, I don't think I've ever been to Iwa, un. Papa always said we'd go "next summer", but we didn't go. Hey!" She pointed at a blanket hanging from a stall.

"Yeah? What about it?"

"That's the symbol on Papa's headband! Only, it has a big scratch." Zakuro explained.

"Where is Epi? She should be here by now." Daizen stated after a moment.

"Oh, her? I set her up, yeah."

"Set her up?"

"Uh-huh. Not on a date, but more of a meeting. With Shikamaru, un."

"I see. Well, I believe they sell the clay at that stall down there. With the blue flag."

"Oh, I see it now, yeah."

"Alright. I have to meet Choji soon, so I'm going to take off now. See you tomorrow."

"Bye, un!" Daizen disappeared into the crowd. Zakuro looked at the bright stalls and festive wares. She began skipping down the street, singing a song she learned from her father. "Oh while you sculpt, you sing a song; Sculpt a bird and build a bomb; Watch the butterflies deploy; Katsu, Doshin, sit back, enjoy. Sing louder, un-" an old man grabbed her arm.

"Where did you learn that song, child?" He had only one eye.

"My papa, yeah. He taught me, un." Zakuro tried to jerk her arm away.

"Who teaches a small child about bombs?" An older woman stepped closer, scrutinizing her.

"A…a bomber, yeah?" More people were stepping in closer to her.

"Let's see your hands, girl." An Iwa ninja came forward.

"N-no! Stop it!" Someone from the crowd yelled out "She looks just like the monster! Get her and blow _her_ up!" "Yeah! Teach him for destroying other families!" The Iwa nin who were accompanying the caravan began appearing in the crowd.

"Daizen! Epi! Sensei!" Zakuro felt someone working on one of the buckles that held the gloves over her palm. The sky flooded with birds, and an unusual screeching began. Cawing and pecking distracted the vengeful merchants, while the growing number of raccoons in the area began to concern the ninja. The blonde fell to the ground and instantly began scuttling for an escape. She pushed out of the fray and ran into the forest, where a small consort of raccoons and birds followed.

The beast Maidens, as they were called, were said to be descended from demons, or possibly animals themselves. The way a name is picked for the young girl is to wait until her third birthday and leave the child in a locked room with one of several animals trained to snarl, growl, lunge, and everything terrifying but bite. In distress, her body sends waves of peculiar chakra, alerting a certain species of up to three animals. Zakuro's mother, Raiku Hane, got her name from raikun and hane; raccoon and feather. Zakuro had gone through much rigorous training to remain undistracted, but apparently it had done no good. She sat in the forest, wishing to go home.

"I want Uncle Hidan, and Uncle Sasori, and Aunt Konan, and I want Papa, un. I'd even settle for Uncle Itachi!" she looked at the dry leaves stuck in the grass. "Why am I alone?" She felt a presence next to her, and upon turning, came face to face with a shock of red hair. "Uncle Sasori!" Zakuro embraced him enthusiastically. "I'm glad you're here, yeah! Is Papa back now, un?" Fearful aqua eyes watched the blonde freeze and back up. "You- you're not…"

"Who are you?" he asked in an angry voice.

"I- I'm Zakuro, yeah… Who're you, un? And why do you look like Uncle Sasori?"

"My name is Gaara of the Desert. Now explain your call." He crossed his arms.

"Call? What call?" The boy grunted, and she edged back. "I…I don't know…" Snakish columns of sand rose from the ground.

"You think I'm joking? Answer me."

"N-no, I… I just…" Zakuro backed up, finding a tree. Her animal consort was put on alert. The sand slackened in its movement, and Gaara stepped closer.

"Stop." He took another step. "Stop that. Stop calling!" he roared.

"I- I can't! Quit moving, yeah!" she jumped into the tree and Gaara fell to his knees, holding his head. "I'm sorry, un. I- I just… The vi- villagers came… I couldn't…" a smaller raccoon scampered on to her shoulder. The blonde watched the nin with the gourd. Another boy in black came running over, out of breath.

"Gaara! -- Gaara?!" He looked up at Zakuro. "What did you do?"

"Nothing, yeah!" She nervously reached back to grab a bomb. "I w-was…I was there, then I was here, and he was h-here and, un…" Without thinking, she instinctively backed up, falling from the tree and landing painfully. While she was disoriented, the newcomer threw kunai at her.

"No!" Gaara roared, clutching his head tighter. Zakuro tried to turn and crawl away, but couldn't. Before the kunai hit her, however, something blocked them. On closer inspection, it was a wall of sand; the same sand that had waved threateningly.

"Gaara! What's wrong?"

"Kankuro! Did you find him?" Another, female, shinobi ran toward the scene. She saw the sand shield that had reared up _behind _her youngest brother.

"Temari! I- I don't know what happened!" The sand fell to reveal the small blonde girl, chest heaving and eyes wide in fear.

"I - I - I didn't mean… I just- I'm sorry!" She slammed her hand down on the ground and the giant owl reappeared, taking Zakuro up in the air. Gaara almost immediately caught his breath and sat up. His siblings rushed to him.

"Are you okay?" Temari asked.

"What happened?" Kankuro inquired, kneeling next to him.

"_Don't_- touch me." He stood, sand collecting itself, and walked deeper into the forest.

Epi stood under a tree near the park, waiting for Zakuro. Earlier that week, Zakuro had told her that she had a surprise for her. The dancer nin was both excited and wary to see what Zakuro had planned. Five minutes passed, then seven, then ten. Zakuro still hadn't arrived. Tired of waiting, Epi began to walk away. She walked straight into Shikamaru. She stood up, rubbing the back of her head.

"Oh! Shikamaru! I'm sorry, I didn't see you!" Epi held her hand out to help him up. He stood, and blinked a few times. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for Zakuro." Epi huffed and crossed her arms. "She said she'd be here ten minutes ago, and she's _still_ not here! I was about to go home and read. What about you?"

"Well, pretty much the same." he put his hands in his pockets. "Zakuro told me to be here at _this_ time. She didn't say why, though. But if she's not here, then she's not here. I might as well go home, too." Shikamaru shrugged. A sudden thought struck Epi.

"Did you get a note?" She dug around her pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper. "Like this one here? Or…something." There was '(18,' written on the paper.

"Oh yeah…Let's see…Here it is." On his piece of paper was ',23)'. "Eighteen twenty-three? What's that?" They stood under the tree for a good four minutes before Epi spoke up.

"There's a map over at the other end of the park that has the layout of the training grounds on it. It's gridded out. Maybe these are coordinates. Zakuro _does_ like scavenger hunts and riddles. Maybe it's something like that." she offered.

"Sounds good to me. Let's get going." Shikamaru and Epi started toward the wide board that held the map.

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**Thank you to FireNekoDemoness and XxRikela-chanxX for your reviews! I know it's short, but it's better than nothing.**


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